Enzo Ferrari Museum to Open in Modena

A museum dedicated to Enzo Ferrari and motorsport will open March 10, 2012 in Modena, Italy. The Enzo Ferrari House Museum will open its doors to the public with an exhibition titled, “The Origins of the Myth” that will explore the story of Enzo Ferrari the man, the driver and the constructor.

“It is with great satisfaction and enthusiasm that, after years of intense work by the Fondazione Casa di Enzo Ferrari, we are on the point of inaugurating this important cultural asset, that will tell the world the story of this great figure and the vocation for motoring of this area”, says Mauro Tedeschini, President of the Fondazione Casa di Enzo Ferrari.

The museum complex started from the restoration of the house in which Enzo Ferrari was born in Modena in 1898, and that has preserved through the years both the living quarters and the workshop. To this has been added a new building in the form of the now famous yellow aluminium “bonnet” whose colour is the symbol of the city of Modena and the colour chosen by Enzo Ferrari as the background to the Prancing Horse, the trademark of the company that bears his name.

“The Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari represents the final addition to the tourist attractions in this area related to motoring,” explains Adriana Zini, General Secretary of the Fondazione – and will become a cult place for motoring enthusiasts and a major destination for cultural and industrial tourism. For the city of Modena it will be an international icon. Together with the Ferrari Museum at Maranello, with which it will operate in synergy, and with other important motoring assets in the area such as the Marzaglia motor racing circuit and the Mario Righini, Panini and Stanguellini Collections, it will fully meet the expectations of visitors from all over the world.

The curtain will rise on an exhibition dedicated to the story of Enzo Ferrari the man, the driver and the constructor, placed in the context of the 20th century and the era which saw him as an undisputed star: motor sport, with its cast of actors, its places, the competitions that characterised the events of his life: from the street circuit of Modena to the motor racing circuit to the Mille Miglia; from Scaglietti, Fantuzzi, Stanguellini to Maserati, Pagani, De Tomaso, Lamborghini as well as Alfa Romeo.

In his birthplace there is a permanent multimedia display which retraces the most important events in Ferrari’s life, a “mover of men”, who believed that “if you can dream it you can do it”, who saw the car as a work of art and considered racing as an experimental and testing ground for the continuous development and improvement of technology and the reaching of perfection. Passion and creativity, research, innovation, courage and challenges; these are the key words that emerge from the life of Enzo Ferrari and that are at the root of the Myth who made Modena and Maranello capitals of a dream come true.

The stars of the exhibition in the new gallery will, on the other hand, be the cars themselves; representatives of the great Italian names from the most prestigious collections and museums, exhibited as works of arts. The vehicles will be surrounded by curvilinear showcases containing historic documents, objects and memorabilia, with the contribution of original audio-visual footage that reconstructs the identity of Motor Valley of Emilia Romagna, that with time acquired international importance.

The Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari is situated close to the historic city centre of Modena and the Maserati plant, in the area outside the city walls that was the first in Modena to be developed and where, close to the railway, the first large industrial complexes, now disused, were built. The area is now being transformed, with the birth of a new quarter with homes, offices, shops and restaurants. The museum covers a total floor space of 5000 sq. m. including a teaching room with a digital archive centre, a conference – room, a projection room, shop and a coffee shop.

The museum will be open 363 days a year, and, thanks to its flexible and modular set up, will host temporary exhibitions in the new gallery that intertwine the theme of motoring with those of art, music, science and technology. The museum will be directed by the Fondazione Casa di Enzo Ferrari, which will oversee cultural policy, exhibition organisation, the educational programme, the documentation centre and archive organisation, communication and marketing.

The work on the new complex has cost 18 million euros. The founding bodies and sponsors of the Fondazione Casa di Enzo Ferrari are Modena City Council, the Provincial Administration of Modena, Modena Chamber of Commerce, Ferrari S.p.A. and the Italian Automobile Club.